Practice Problem Set

First Law of Thermodynamics

1. Identify each energy exchange as primarily heat or work and determine whether the
sign of ΔU is positive or negative for the system.
a. Sweat evaporates from skin, cooling the skin (evaporating sweat is the system).
b. A balloon expands against an external pressure (the contents of the balloon is
the system).
c. An aqueous chemical reaction mixture is warmed with an external flame (the
reaction mixture is the system).

2. A system releases 622 kJ of heat and does 105 kJ of work on the surroundings. What is
the change in internal energy for the system?

3. The gas in a cylinder (defined as the system) warms and absorbs 655 kJ of heat. The
expansion performs 344 kJ of work on the surroundings. What is the change in internal
energy for the system?

4. How much heat is required to increase the temperature of 0.250 L of water from 4.7 °C
to 37.5 °C? The specific gravity of pure water is 1.00. The specific heat capacity of water
is 4.18 J K–1 g–1.

5. Suppose that 25 g of each substance is initially at 27.0 °C. What is the final temperature
of each substance upon absorbing 2.35 kJ of heat?
a. Gold (0.128 J K–1 g–1)
b. Silver (0.235 J K–1 g–1)
c. Aluminium (0.903 J K–1 g–1)
d. Water (4.18 J K–1 g–1)

6. An 80.0 g sample of aluminum at 4.00 °C is placed in 150.0 g of an alcohol at 25.0 °C. The
equilibrium temperature is 21.5 °C. Determine the specific heat capacity of the alcohol.
The specific heat capacity of aluminium is 0.903 J/(g °C). Ignore the heat exchange with
the air and the container.

7. A 32.5 g cube of aluminum initially at 45.8 °C is placed in 105.3 g of water at 15.4 °C.
What is the final temperature of both substances at thermal equilibrium? The specific
heat capacity of water and aluminium is 4.184 and 0.903 J/(g °C), respectively.
8. A block of metal with a mass of 19.56 g and a temperature of 21.25 °C is placed in a
calorimeter containing 50.00 g of methanol at 95.65 °C. If the final temperature of the
methanol is 65.35 °C, determine the specific heat capacity of the metal. The specific
heat capacity of methanol is 2.48 J K–1 g–1. Ignore the heat exchange with the air and the
container.

9. Write a thermochemical equation to represent the:

a. Enthalpy of condensation for benzene, for which the standard enthalpy change is
–33.9 kJ mol –1.
b. Enthalpy of deposition for diiodine, for which the standard enthalpy change is
–75.9 kJ mol –1.

10. A coffee cup calorimeter containing 100 mL of water is calibrated by introducing a 17.49
g piece of aluminum that has been heated to 85.90 °C. The initial temperature of the
water is 22.30 °C and the final temperature is 24.50 °C. Determine the heat capacity of
the coffee cup calorimeter, which represents the coffee cup, the thermometer, and the
water. The specific heat capacity of aluminium is 0.903 J K–1 g–1.

11. A coffee cup calorimeter with a heat capacity of 0.549 kJ K –1 has an initial temperature
of 20.00 °C. What is the enthalpy of solution for ammonium nitrate if 8.09 g of NH 4NO3
is added to the water, and the final temperature of the solution is 13.80 °C. Give your
final answer in kJ/mol.

12. The combustion of 2.03 g of Fruit Loops cereal in a combustion calorimeter with a total
heat capacity of 2.95 kJ K –1 results in the temperature increasing from 18.05 °C to
28.57 °C. Calculate the heat of combustion of the Fruit Loops in kJ g –1 at constant
volume.
 Practice Problem Set
First Law of Thermodynamics
Answers

1. heat +, work –, heat +

2. –727 kJ
3. 311 kJ
4. 34.3 kJ
5. 760 °C, 430 °C, 130 °C, 49 °C
6. 2.4 J K–1 g–1
7. 17.2 °C
8. 4.36 J K–1 g–1
° °
9. C6H6 (g)  C6H6 (l) 𝛥𝐻𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 = –33.9 kJ/mol; I2 (g)  I2 (s) 𝛥𝐻𝑑𝑒𝑝 = –75.9 kJ/mol
10. 441 J K–1
11. 34.0 kJ/mol
12. –15.3 kJ g–1